7/28/2009 @ 8:08PM

In Pictures: Nine Steps For Tackling A Virtual Trade Show

Step 1: Find an Event

Start by trolling trade publications and industry Web sites. If you hear about an upcoming show but haven’t received an invitation to set up a booth, call the show’s host directly. Another option: Contact the big virtual-event design companies like GoExhibit, ON24 and SecondLife to find out what shows are in their pipeline. “You can find physical shows that are switching to a hybrid physical-virtual model, or have gone entirely virtual,” says Denise Persson, chief marketing officer for ON24, which designs about 500 virtual events per year.